GOP battles back in 'war on women'

4/12/12 12:37 PM EDT

From my story today on how Hilary Rosen's comments have changed the campaign:

After Hilary Rosen’s heavily criticized attack on Ann Romney last night, Republicans find themselves in a position to recover ground on one of this year’s mostly highly charged political narratives: the so-called “war on women.”

“Talk about overplaying their hand,” RNC deputy communications director Tim Miller told POLITICO. “Given the economic numbers showing the Obama economy disproportionately impacts women and a top Democrat attacking stay-at-home moms, it’s clear that the President has the woman problem.”

For over a month, Democrats and liberal groups have used Rush Limbaugh’s comments about Sandra Fluke and Republican views on contraception to suggest that the GOP has been waging a “war on women.” At the same time, they have cited Mitt Romney’s low polling numbers among female voters to suggest that the candidate — and the party — is out of touch with women.

But with just one statement from Rosen — who seemed to criticize stay-at-home mothers when she said on CNN that Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life” — political analysts now suggest that Democrats are in danger of losing the upper hand.

“This turned this war on women into a war on one woman, who then becomes a proxy for so many women who share a similar lifestyle, stay at home, raise children,” said Will Cain, a CNN contributor.

Read the full story, including the RNC's call for an official apology, here.